What a world we would live in if we could just float to our destination.

Getting all the way out to Seaside can be quite a fun trip. Not all of us have cars and for those that do, most hotels there have parking lots built for one car per room.

Parking

While any number of cars may unload at the hotel, we suggest that the person who is the primary on your hotel reservation be the one to keep their car at the hotel itself. Public parking in Seaside is free in Seaside, though only some areas allow for overnight parking. Pay attention to parking signs. There are three public parking lots in Seaside, and keep in mind that the Best Western, where we stay, is the westernmost building located between 4th and 5th avenues.

Traveling By Bus

If you are traveling to Seaside but do not have (or plan to rent) a car, we found three bus lines that you can use to get to Seaside from Portland. Many of these bus lines allow for tickets to be bought a couple months in advance but may not show any available tickets to or from Seaside at time of writing.

Traveling by plane or train

Using either of these conveyances will get you to Portland, Oregon and from there you’ll want to either rent a car or get bus tickets as noted above. Between the three carriers above, there appear to be at least five buses per day going to and from Seaside.

get out the float 201911-13 OctSeaside, Oregon

Please clicky on our link to go to our registration form; what follows are a few additional details about some stuff found on the form.

Fursuit Friendly Areas & Events:

Sandpiper Room, Best Western Ocean View Resort (+headless lounge)

Fursuit Walk (Saturday), (+headless lounge at Carousel Mall)

Chisholm Community Center (Sunday) (+headless lounge)

Inflatable Friendly Areas & Events:

Sandpiper Room, Best Western

Chisholm Community Center (Sunday)

Sunset Empire Pool (Sunday)

Exceptions: Some events exclude fursuits and inflatables by their nature.

Fursuit Walk excludes inflatables

Sunset Empire Pool excludes fursuits

Laser Tag excludes fursuits and inflatables

What does it mean that an area is fursuit friendly? In part it means that we have headless lounge nearby and that you are likely to find help from a handler or attendee if you need some quick help. Those in the area should generally know fursuit etiquette (excluding the public).

What does it mean that an area is inflatable friendly? It means that the area is reserved for private use. Inflatables are prone to being badly damaged or destroyed outright by singular acts (such as jumping on them), the general public seems less cognizant of this than furries. Inflatable etiquette is not common even among furries, but is more prevalent. Inflatable friendly areas also have access to electricity and Airheads Anonymous (or toysitters) who will direct setup and packout of the toys.

The
schedule below is subject to change, and should give you an idea for
what to expect during the weekend. We have a lot of open time in our
schedule so you can connect with old friends, make new friends and be
able to relax. To help everyone stay on top of changes, we have a
Telegram group and announcement channel specific to this event set up;
invitation links will be provided on the confirmation page and in your
confirmation email.

Pooltoys by the Poolshore 2019“stay squeaky, my friends”

We are returning to the Best Western Ocean View Resort, right on the shore of the biggest pool in the world, the Pacific Ocean. If you are staying Fri, Oct 11th to Sun, Oct 13th, you may clicky this link to make your reservation online. If you plan to arrive earlier or stay later, you will need to call the hotel directly at the number below. In either case, our group name is still The Pool Party.

We have more types of rooms available to us; to get these prices you must make your reservation before September 9th, 2019. Rates are valid for up to two adults per room. For rooms with more than 2 adults over 18 years of age, each additional adult costs an extra $20 per person, per night. All rates are subject to current taxes; at time of writing these taxes total 11.8%. Check-in time is 4pm, check-out time is 11am.

Get out the float 2019Oct 11-13, 2019Seaside, or

Get Out The Float 2019 is our third event in Seaside, Oregon. Our
events are a mix of what you’d expect to find at a furry convention,
charity fursuiting event and a pool party. Most of our heavy setup will
begin Thursday, October 10th, 2019. This year we are supporting three
charities, The League of Extraordinary Floofs, Clatsop Children’s
Theater Company and the Sunset Empire Parks & Recreation Foundation.
Likewise, three awesome furry companies are contributing some of their
wares (50%-100% of proceeds going to charity!): KabiblesCrafts,
AnthroWear and Phenod Toys.

You can help kickstart our donation
to charity by adding an amount to your registration. It costs $1 per
vote, and we like to stuff the ballot box with bills. The “election”
will take place during the weekend. We will also be accepting donations
to the charities during the weekend. Each charity will receive all
donations designated for them, none will leave empty-handed.

At present, we are re-organizing a lot. The scaffolding of thoughts and ideas cannot exist inside a pooltoy’s brain, but it’s there, anyway. For better digestion, we are simplifying our layout. It speaks volumes when the Candiderp who posted all the content of the site can’t find where he put stuff. This is part a problem between the keyboard and chair, it is also partly professional disorganization.

Some “newer” things might get tried out, and the old way of organizing all the things is in the process of being scrapped. The main changes is the main navigation menu is in the upper right now, and what used to be the sidebar navigation menu will now point to posts about upcoming events.

We begin today with the announcement that our sea dragon plush arrived! There is plenty more writing to do, and our is an event registration form adapted for the purpose of allowing our candiderp the use of his living room once again. We didn’t want the poor sea dergs cooped up in shipping boxes until October; so they are available.

Squeak! This is our schedule. There are many like it, but this one is ours. We’ve moved it here from Telegram, and some formatting got a little funny on us. We’re warning ourselves about how we wish to prepare schedules in the future, but for the moment, it is more important to get this to you, than to have it look pretty, organized or pretty organized. ^_^

Friday, Feb 1st:

10am-12pm: Equipment packout from Baph’s house (stuff should be ready to go out the door).

1pm-5pm: Setup in 3rd floor conference room. Load in of All The Things

If you are planning to go up in The Spruce Goose, it is $25 per group of 4, 2 fursuiters, 1 photographer, 1 handler (w/ water), best time to pay and get on their schedule is 9am at the sales desk in the Aviation Museum); fursuiters will have to take off their feets to ascend the stairs to the cockpit and observation area).

4:45pm: “Winner” announced as well as charity totals. Then Get The Heckie out of the Museum Because Doors Close At 5pm.

6pm: Dinner (tables of 4ish) at the buffet in Spirit Mountain Casino (departing hotel about 5:30). All ages welcome, those under 21 cannot enter the casino floor, itself, but can go to the buffet.

Sunday Feb 3rd:

8-9am, Reg & any other setup9-9:45am: Any last minute Water Landing purchases may be made at reg (as an add-on, it is $25 by itself).10am: Waterpark opens (Baph or Darkk will deliver written list of all waterlanding folks; bring your ID to the waterpark front desk to get your wristband)– Secure lockers at the waterpark and towels cost extra; though you may bring your own towel. 10:30am Group fursuiting gathers in conference room before heading to the Space Museum12:30pm LONCH BREAK. Food get. Hydrate. No die. 1:30-3:30pm Individual/small group fursuiting around both museums.– Forgotten Note: Our group may also purchase tickets to any of the movies playing in the museum theater throughout the weekend. ^_^3:30pm: Pack up registration (if not already done) and Deflategate. Pack out as much as practical before 5pm. 4:45pm: Get out of the museum. 6pm: Waterpark closes.7pm: Dinner at either casino steakhouse or Golden Valley Brewery (whichever we didn’t do on Friday)Commence Maximum Relaxation.

Monday, Feb 4th:

7-9am: Any final packout/cleanup from museum 3rd floor conference room takes place. Loading event stuff and return it to Baph’s house, followed by more relaxation in McMinnville or Beaverton, depending on where/what the group wants to do).Maximum Relaxation Resumes (or Maximum Overdrive To Get To Work In Alberta) ^_^

Squeak! It’s that time of year again, when between Christmas, family, presents and the weather we tell you that the room block is about to expire. Our room block is open until December 31st, 2018; however you are welcome to reserve a room at the best rate the hotel has to offer even if you are not in our roomblock; as there are two hotels within a mile of the aviation museum.

A lot of firsts happened with us in Seaside this year. Baphnedia is a bit of an airhead so for the Feb 2019 will definitely want help capturing all the happenings in warning label format. This time it’s going to be short, sweet, and to the point; because that’s what warning labels are. Right?

The Pool Party in Seaside 2018:
– 38 Voters took part (a total of 38 participants)
– 10 participating Delegates (our voting system only allows ten)
– 1 Contest of 2 Charities, for which $400.50 was raised.
– 1 Newspaper article… IN COLOR.

In 2017, there were only 27 of us in Seaside; this year that number grew by 11 despite the long drives and remote location. For the first time, we used our Delegates in at-event voting. We think there were 14 Delegates present, but VoteBot on Telegram will only allow up to 10 answers to a poll; so we randomized who got to be called on during the election proceedings.

The election was a contest between the Sunset Parks & Recreation Foundation and the Clatsop Children’s Theater Company that the former won. Just over four hundred dollars were raised in total, and each charity took a small bucket of cash with them.

For those of us who were in one of the fursuit group photos at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum; that photo made it into the Seaside Signal during the weekend of The Pool Party. Not only were we in the paper, but we were graced with being portrayed in color!

Pooltoys by the Poolshore is our first event by the beach and now that our hotel is on the beach itself, it’s time that we had that little talk.

Fursuits: fursuit etiquette in our fandom is one of the bastions of a well-informed community. Were we to ask you to tell us what constitutes good fursuit etitquette, we would get largely the same answers. This is because the furry community is pretty knowledgeable sometimes. Shocking! Some of our fursuiting will take place in public, where most people on the street have no idea about these things or what furries are; or even that the costumes cost more to make than fifty to one hundred dollars. With that in mind… we ask that every member of our group watch out for each other and be safe. Like with any public fursuiting you should always arrange having a handler around to help you better interact with the public, and also to keep you hydrated and safe from obstacles and dangers moving or otherwise.

The Beach is right next to our hotel. We haven’t planned any specific beach outings this year because there is a high chance that the weather will not cooperate in mid-October. That said, the beach is open, and ask that you stay safe out there and be prepared. Jumping on a pooltoy in the ocean without proper preparation could result in you or your pooltoy getting swept out to sea, never to be seen again. You can think of rip currents as a good way to Rest In Peace.

Think about what to pack; lots of rope (100′ or more), anchors (such as a 5 gallon bucket), battery powered air pump, tarps, pavilion, water & sunscreen, among other things.

Use the bucket, sand, rope and a friend on the shore to anchor your pooltoy and to make sure nothing happens to your anchor. Anchor buddies are important.

Public Displays of Pooltoy: it is a public beach, your anchor buddy will probably also get to toysit for you and answer questions from the public, such as where to get them / how much they cost.

The Pool Party isn’t prepared to include the beach as a part of our events this year.

The Carousel located in The Carousel Mall will be in use by our group on Saturday, Oct 14th in the early afternoon; before our group begins the return trek to the hotel. There are some particular things you should know:

If you are in fursuit, you may need help from your handler and/or carousel staff to get you seated on the carousel.

A lot of small kids are present. Sometimes the carousel operators will have just members of our group on the carousel, we may also be mixed with the public on some runs.

Each member of our group has two carousel rides included in the cost of registration – whether you are in suit or not. While our group is at The Carousel Mall is the only time to get these rides, special circumstances notwithstanding.

The conference room on the 2nd floor of the carousel mall is our headless lounge and we will have fans, water and privacy. The conference room may be air conditioned, but the main mall does not have AC.

The carousel can only accommodate about 15-20 of us per run; this is likely the last year that our group is small enough to use the carousel, because of limited space.

Inflatables are perhaps what we are known best for, but they are also something even many folks in the community know little about. Like fursuits, inflatables aren’t as expensive because of volume. The price per inflatable that one of our Candiderps usually brings are toys priced between $50 an $1500 each; acquired over many years. At this time, The Pool Party does not own its own toys; all inflatables brought to our events are privately owned. Inflatables are generally durable; they can usually support a lot of static weight. Dynamic weight (such as jumping or flopping on them) they are pretty bad at; unless the inflatable is a bouncy castle and designed to be jumped on. Some notes on inflatable etiquette:

Inflatables are a bit skittish and don’t like being in environments they don’t feel safe in. Damage to their inflatables (due to accidents or callousness) is the biggest reason why those who own toys don’t take them out in public.

Find the owner of a toy and get their permission before using a their toy. The owner should explain any limitations (such as no shoes, no sharp objects in pockets, badge clips, or “don’t sit on the toy between it’s shoulders, as one of the front legs might rip off”).

Whether on land or in the water; jumping on toys is one way to see seam splits in a split second.

For our second year in a row, The Pool Party has an actual pool to ourselves. If you ask “why didn’t we think of this sooner?” Well, we’re professional airheads!

You cannot enter the pool deck (the walking area around the pool) until after you have showered, unless you are carrying in pooltoys and airpumps and will shower before you get in the water. Showering is a must.

Bring pooltoys, airpump & about a 10′ extension cord. Almost all outlets are elevated (about 7-8′ in the air), and a lifeguard will bring a ladder to get you plugged in. We will primarily be inflating toys beginning at noon, and deflation will begin between 5-6 pm, depending on how much work there is to do.

Pooltoys may go in either pool (but not the hot tub). Pooltoys may only be ridden in the deep end of the main pool. Inflatable games (that do not involve riding) will happen in the wading pool, and pooltoys arranged for photos will be done in the shallow end of the main pool.

The lifeguards have the final say about what toys are allowed in the pool. Size and shape of the pooltoy are important considerations. Tall toys can obstruct their view of the pool, where as flat toys could trap someone who is out of view, beneath. The pool-owned inflatable will be up in the beginning and will get put away when we go on break for a meal (or rest).

Follow the instructions of the lifeguards and the rules of the pool to the best of your ability.

For those not using the pool, know that the showers are available until about 6:30pm in case you’d like to wash up before the long drive home.

If you have any questions, you may reach out to us or to either of our candiderps; Darkk & Baphnedia. ^_^

NOTE: This event has been cancelled; our old hotel had full kitchens in every room which gave plenty of space and time to prepare food for a potluck. Shoving everyone into a single kitchen for two hours to make noms does sound to be nearly as much fun; and if it is lotsa fun – it probably means we have a lot to clean up. Details of the event will be kept below for posterity.

Despite all of our attempts to get air added as the primary food group at the FDA, we still haven’t had any luck. We give ourselves a chance to stuff ourselves as much as any plush toy before departing for more familiar pastures, beds or the toy boxes we call home.

The Bob Chisholm Community Center, located at 1225 Avenue A, Seaside, OR 97138, is a fully-equipped commercial kitchen, with natural gas range (8 burners), grill, microwave, walk-in freezer, walk-in refrigerator, utensils, dishes, et cetera. Making too much food for this potluck is okay, not just because some of us wish to become orbs later in life but also you should know any extra food we leave behind will be passed to residents of local shelters by the community center.

Guidelines:

We recommend disposable carrying items, so that you don’t need to take Rivertide property to the community center. Also, it’s a lot easier to leave leftovers for others so you can take any personally owned pots, pans or dishes home with you.

Everything must be cleaned and presentable. This year we have a group that will begin setting up for their event the moment we leave. We would like to return to this space next year. There is a dishwasher and dish pit in the kitchen.

Shopping List: One volunteer will be given a $20 and sent to the grocery store to get last minute items. These may include serving utensils, 3×5 cards, fine permanent markers, paper napkins, etc. The amount of money given will be based on what we need.

3×5 Cards can have known allergens of a persons’ dish and the name of the person who prepared it. This way, if you see a dish and you think you might be allergic to something in it, you know who to ask about the dish.

Fine permanent markers show up really well, so that most 3×5 cards won’t have to be picked up to be read.

Viridis Coyote is the primary point of contact for this event. He will be organizing volunteers and helping keep the menu a bit balanced. If Coyotes only ask for dishes including cactus, or a 100% all desert menu… or dessert menu… hrmm…

Each hotel room at Rivertide has a full kitchen (as full as you’ll find in a hotel). During the weekend, feel free to put together and prep as much of your potluck foods as you like!

As we prepare ourselves to squeak at waters edge of the biggest pool in the world (The Pacific Ocean), we’ll be making efforts to do some group activities. Seaside Oregon has a LOT of things to do, but our group can very quickly outgrow most spaces there for how many can be served at once.

If the weather is bad, we might not do some of the activities and have a short list of stuff for backup activities & ideas. We’re pooltoys; our short lists are very short. If you have an idea, please reach out to Baphnedia.

The Big Toy Agenda:

Friday, Oct 12th: Travel Day & Setup

Setup

(10am-4pm) Headless Lounge in Carousel Mall Conference room

(8am – complete) Sandpiper Room at Best Western

(ad hoc) Inflationists Meeting in the Sandpiper Room

Bring airpumps or lungs & inflatables to inflate

Fursuit & inflatable photos (ad hoc)

“Voter Registration” / Check-in

Saturday, Oct 13th: Party by the Pool Shore

10am Fursuiting Route Preview (walking the route in plainclothes)

12pm Fursuiting Begins in the Sandpiper Room

12:15pm Attempt a group photo before leaving Sandpiper

2nd Stop: Seaside Promenade / Lewis & Clark Statue

3rd Stop: Headless Lounge (BREAK), Carousel Mall Conference Room

4th Stop: Carousel Mall

Return (route & time TBD by our official cat-herder)

4pm Pack Out Carousel Conference Room

5pm “Dinner Break” (no official plans)

7pm Election (charities) in Sandpiper Room

8pm Inflatable Games in Sandpiper Room

11pm Deflationists Panel in Sandpiper Room

Sunday, Oct 14th: The Pool Party

9am Pack out Sandpiper Room (move stuff to storage)

12pm-7pm Sunset Empire Pool

12pm – 1pm Inflationists Panel (bring pumps / extension cords)!

TBD Inflatable games in wading pool

TBD 1 hour meal break from pool

6pm-7pm Maximum Deflation & Pack Out

Ad hoc; small groups fursuiting and photos/video

Places of interest include

The Beach / Promenade

Seaside murals (on the sides of various buildings)

Ecole State Park

Hug Point (in Cannon Beach)

The big, orange chair on US 101 & Broadway

Showers are available at Sunset Empire Pool

Locations:Sandpiper Room (basement of the hotel, stairs down from the lobby)Carousel Mall (located on Broadway, a few blocks from our hotel)Carousel Mall Conference Room (2nd floor, located beside management office)Sunset Empire Pool (located on Broadway, about a half mile from our hotel)

The event that could be impacted by inclement weather. In case the weather is wet, backup plans include fursuit photoshoots in the conference rooms, board games and other such things. We’re trying to make the world a warmer place through the magical powers of climate change. With that said, we don’t know whether the weather will work with us.

IMPORTANT EDIT: We overinflated our old hotel, and moved to the Best Western Ocean View Resort in Seaside, OR. The following is edited / updated to reflect the new hotel information…

At night when the wind blows, we don’t want anyone going out with the tide into the big blue beyond. The place to flop at night for us is the Best Western in Seaside. Without further ado, a plethora of detail!

Best Western Ocean View Resort414 N Prom
Seaside, OR 97138
(800) 234-8439
Reservations made by phone only.
Our group name is The Pool Party.

Group rate available up to 2 days before and after our event, as long as hotel is below 80% occupancy.

This group rate will no longer be available for reservations made after September 10th, 2018. Get your reservation in early!

Cancellations must be made more than 14 days prior to the start of your stay. A fee equal to the room rate for one night will be charged for late cancellations or no-shows will be applied. In other words, if you need to cancel last minute, it is best practice to see who the room can be transferred to whenever possible.

Squeak! Time is getting away from us like that helium balloon. Come back! Come baaaack! What were we squeaking about? Oh yes! Airheads aren’t allowed to sleep in museum airplanes. Rest assured, can sleep inn comfort from Feb 2-4th, 2018 just down the street from the museum.

Comfort Inn & Suites
2520 SE Stratus Avenue, McMinnville, OR, 97128
Phone: (503) 472-1700*
* Reservations for The Pool Party must be made to the hotel by calling this number.